Itinerary Review - London / Paris

The Cotswolds have some natural scenery and you probably could extend your stay by a night, taken from London.
Then, instead of Bruges, you could consider Bordeaux: there are flights from Bristol to Bordeaux in summer. From Bordeaux, you can do a day trip to Arcachon for a beach/Pilat sand dune adventure. And the train ride to Paris is easy afterwards.
Not that Bruges is a bad idea at all! I was just thinking of other options.

Given the age of your kids and the fact they tire of museums easily I think you have way too much time in both London and Paris. For a real treat you all can enjoy check out the Rick Steve’s Family Tour. At first blush it may seem expensive but when you add up your lodging costs, food, site admissions, transportation (in Europe) it’s a solid deal.

You may want to head straight to Bath after landing. Then London. There’s a bus from Heathrow or a rail option too.

London has some great parks. On my last trip I wandered around Hempstead Heath. You wouldn’t know that you were still in London

We greatly enjoy cities, but the kids do tire of museums after a while.

Does that mean an hour or 2 a day is fine or once per trip?

If you’re flying into London Heathrow hop on a direct bus to Bath (2h 15m) and sleep in Bath for three nights. From the Bath Spa station hop on a direct train to London’s Paddington station (2h): https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/.
To get to Bruges you’ll need to take the Eurostar to the Brussels Midi / Zuid station and transfer to Bruge: https://www.eurostar.com/. The further out you purchase your tickets the cheaper it is. The train from Brussels to Bruges is direct (1h): https://www.belgiantrain.be/en. Sleep in Bruges a minimum of two nights.
The train from Bruges to Paris requires a transfer in Brussels (3h): https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/.

Thanks everyone for the ideas so far.

Does that mean an hour or 2 a day is fine or once per trip?

An hour or two a day should be fine for my kids.

Brian, I also recommend visiting one museum per day first thing in the morning when you have the most energy. Most museums take approximately two hours to tour unless visiting The National Gallery or Churchill’s Museum in London. Both museums have a café if you need to take a break.

In August we went to London and Paris with our 14 year old and 11 year old grandchildren. In London they loved the Tower of London, the London Eye, and running in Kensington Palace gardens. In past trips we have enjoyed Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, and a river boat ride on the Thames to Greenwich to the Prime Meridien.

In Paris they loved a Seine river boat cruise, going to the Summit of the Eiffel Tower, and renting wooden sailboats for a half hour at the Luxembourg gardens. They also enjoyed walking along the Champs Elysees, St Germain area, and getting crepes, and French pastries. To our surprise they liked the Louvre and the Napoleon Apartments there with a break at Angelina's for hot chocolate. They also thought the Musee D'Orsay was great.

After time with our grandchildren and their parents, my husband and I went to Bruges by ourselves from Paris. It is time consuming to get to Bruge and while it was lovely for a couple there is not much there for children. You may wish to go London - Amsterdam - Paris instead. Amsterdam has canal cruises and day trips to the countryside to see windmills that they might enjoy.

organizer8,
Thank you so much for the ideas, those all sound great. Even though the kids can't spend 4+ hours in in museums each day, I think most major cities has lots of opportunities for fun activities that we can weave in, in addition to the more 'cultured' stuff which they will enjoy in limited doses.

I'm glad you mentioned Amersterdam. I have been going back and forth on Bruges vs Amsterdam. I was thinking to avoid another big city, which is why I chose Bruges, but maybe Amersterdam is more fun.

Brian

Do yourself a great favor and try to go as soon as school's out. That one month will possibly make a big difference in temperatures and comfort.

Mid Summer is when the largest crowds are found in places like London and Paris. We have flown into London the last couple of years, and we're only traveling through--going to smaller, quieter places. We also flew into Rome this year, and the crowds at popular travel sites were just unmanageable. And they got worse mid Summer.

Your travel itinerary looks fine. Have you considered less days in the U.K. spending those days in Amsterdam since you'll be so close? I prefer the Netherlands to Belgium any day.

...kids do tire of museums after a while.

Understandable. There have been a few times we've tired also -- and we are well beyond the teen years! Since they will be "subjected" (as teens are prone to say) to at least some museum time, involve them in the planning. Do something on each of "their list" each day or every other day. Will make for a much happier trip for all.

I would add another day to bath, but otherwise time line looks ok. You might want to consider going straight to Bath first, and then London to avoid losing time backtracking.